It's no exaggeration to say that Fire Emblem: Awakening was a major turning point for the series, both critically and commercially. Up till that release, Fire Emblem had been suffering from waning popularity and was figuratively on its last legs. Awakening was intended to be the swan song for the series unless it hit a certain sales milestone, which it ended up comfortably reaching. Now, with Fire Emblem Fates on the horizon here in the west, it seems that the series is relevant once more.
Dark Horse comics recently announced that it will be partnering with Nintendo to produce The Art of Fire Emblem: Awakening, an art book entirely dedicated to the popular 3DS game. Featuring storyboards and concept art for various events, characters, weapons, and environments, this is certainly shaping up to be the must-have item for any serious Fire Emblem fan. It's open for pre-order right now on Amazon for $39.99.
What do you think? Will you be picking this up? What did you think of Fire Emblem: Awakening? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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[source darkhorse.com]
Comments 39
Oh my GAWD! I need dis.
Awesome news!!!
Now let's hope Nintendo also brings the recently released Super Mario Encyclopedia to the West!
Just noticed on the Amazon pre-order page that this Fire Emblem book has a softcover (just like the original Japanese one). Was really hoping it would be hardcover, but hey, I'll take what I can get hehe
I already have the import version (Knights of Iris) and it's pretty great. The last 100 pages or so are all Japanese text though, so this will be a nice effort from Dark House.
Meh, Kozaki's drawing skills are really beautiful, but his designs for this game were godawful. If this was a Radiant Dawn art book that was coming over, I'd be all over that.
Also
"this is certainly shaping up to be the must-have item for any serious Fire Emblem fan"
Totally not true in any capacity. Awakening split the fanbase with the majority of people liking it being newcomers, so this is more of a must-have item for people with a slight interest in the series.
Still, I might grab this once it's $20 or less since I haven't bought a Fire Emblem artbook since the Fire Emblem Memorial Book Akaneia Chronicle.
Can't wait for this. I just ordered a Chrom Nendoroid.
Why can't I get what I want?
Oh boy, can't wait for an artbook to get censored.
Just saw this today at japan town san francisco
Can't wait to get this. Will see if Amazon Canada has it.
The price is a bit steeper than I figured it would be, but I'll likely still buckle down and buy it.
@AVahne without this game you might not have seen another game at all.
Huh, that's... a pretty interesting idea. Is this just Knights of Iris in English, or is it something new entirely? Either way, I might consider picking it up if I can find it. I'm not even a big fan of the game itself or its artwork; it's probably my second or third least favorite of the series, but the amount of content in this book seems pretty good. Maybe I'll wait until it's cheaper, although 40 dollars seems like a decent price if you're a big fan of the game. I'm not myself, but I still might pick it up when it's around, say, 20 dollars.
@Kobeskillz That... doesn't make the artwork any better. Even as someone who enjoyed this game and liked its artstyle as well as Kozaki's work I'd agree that Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn have better art.
@3792M I was talking more about his comment about awakening not being liked by old school fe fans. Which is not entirely true since I adore the game and I'm an old fan.
It also allowed our favorite series to continue.
@3792M Senri Kita is a fantastic artist who either doesn't get the amount of work she deserves or chooses to keep her output low. I'd love a Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn art book from her.
December 24th 2015 12:00 AM: "The Art of Fire Emblem: Awakening" Book pre-ordered.
YES! Now we need the 25 years commemoration book!
$39.99? Better be one hell of a book.
Hyrule Historia was a huge really nice book and that went only for like $13 bucks on release...
That's a steep price for softcover, but DarkHorse makes the best artbooks around so I may pre-order this.
Pre ordered.
Was about to import the Japanese version of this. Yay!
@Kobeskillz
While true, that doesn't suddenly make the game worthy of all the praise it gets. Even less so when Fates is what we're getting as a continuation.
I said that it's mostly newcomers that liked it, but I didn't say ALL old fans hated it, so if you liked it good for you. Heck, even I enjoyed the FIRST (and maybe second) playthrough and I was even happy we even got the game considering they made us skip Heroes of Light and Shadow (a much better game btw, due to the story and less hand holding). But after that first playthrough, it just wasn't as fun to replay as older FEs. I do have over 300 hours logged, but that all comes from grinding my Avatars since I didn't have much else to play at the time.
To me, the only positive about the series continuing is the 5% chance of getting a Radiant Dawn level game again.
@CaviarMeths
It's been over 8 years, yet we still don't have a book
Does IS hate the Tellius saga?
It's sad that IS refuses to promote anything Fire Emblem unless it's Awakening or Fates. Where's my Tellius Artbook?
@AVahne
Isn't that exactly why it deserves the praise it gets? If awakening didn't succeed we wouldn't be getting fates or anymore fire emblem games.
I will agree with you that it wasn't as fun to replay as other FE games, although I enjoyed the dlc
Now if we can just get the soundtrack released in North America, that would be great!
I've got my copy preordered, though I'm with some of the fellows above who'd have been much more excited for a Tellius art book. Alaz, maybe one day... Still it's nice that we're getting anything at all, especially considering Nintendo of America didn't even acknowledge Fire Emblem's 25th anniversary.
Really love the Awakening designs, first time I've really actually liked the Fire Emblem character designs, hope this comes to Europe too!
Lol sadly i still have yet to finish awakening. Might end up clearing Fates before awakening at this rate (unless i finish it in January). Definitely gonna get that art book though!
@Miss_Dark Was about that price on release date in NA
Sigh, $40 is not a lot for a book of art.
WANT.
I want this, but $40 is a bit too much.
I'd personally want the Amiibo's slightly more.
@AVahne
Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn sold horribly in the west, so it's to be expected that they don't localize merchandise associated with the games. Not to mention the games are how many years old now?
Not to say I wouldn't love to get one- I ordered the soundtracks for PoR and RD even though I usually don't like buying Japanese items.
@AVahne As a veteran player, while the game was unbalanced the characters and designs are the main reason why people still talk about Awakening. Not the gameplay or story. People still remember the stories that even make up those characters but unless it's genetic or cultural most people won't remember what class most characters are. As for Fates, they already took the complaints about Awakening to heart. Even making seperate versions if needed to cater to old and new.
@AVahne Heroes of Light and Shadow better than Awakening? There's no way it had a better story.
@xPH03N1Xx86 It had the same blueprints for story as the Marth games.
$40 is a bit much. Good thing it's $25 on Amazon
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